Superiority Complex
by Dalek Time Controller
Summary: The Dalek Time Controller leads an attack on Aperture Science, but GLaDOS gives him more trouble than he anticipated. Meanwhile the Master and Wheatley discover a threat to the existence of the universe. Part 1 of a trilogy and my first story. Changes of perspective may seem abrupt, sorry, Fanfictiondotnet didn't recognise my paragraph breaks.
1. Preface

Preface

This story draws some inspiration for the frankly marvellous tale ' _Do Daleks Dream of Electric Cake?_ '. I heartily recommend you check it out as it is, whilst as of yet unfinished, a cracking tale with a good blend of wit, charm and DALEKS! I decided to mention this because whilst my story differs in many ways from _DDDOEC_ it shares a similar premise and was indeed inspired by it.

This story also draws many plot points and characters from Big Finish's _Dark Eyes_ Doctor Who audio series. Since Big Finish are not particularly well known, I have decided to give a basic biography for some of the characters and set the scene if the reader hasn't heard the audios and doesn't want to check out the Doctor Who Wiki (not saying that's necessarily bad, everyone has their own opinions).

Characters:

The Dalek Time Controller

Genetically engineered to understand and observe the complexities of the web of time, this Dalek strategist was relatively sane until his fateful mission to the Amethyst Viral Containment Station. When the Station was destroyed in a temporal explosion the Time Controller spent a near-eternity watching all of history, and went insane. Following his return to normal space and a stint stuck on 22nd Century Earth, the Time Controller teamed up with former Time Lord Kotris to wipe out the Time Lords with Retrogenitor Particles.

Thanks to the interference of the Doctor, Kotris' former incarnation, Straxus, died and thus everything the Time Controller had done with him ceased to exist. Now returned to his Dalek Empire, the Time Controller examines the changes in time caused by Straxus' death, intending to use them for his own purposes…

The Master

The Doctors arch nemesis, this renegade Time Lord was resurrected by the secretive Gallifreyan Celestial Intervention Agency (CIA*) to become their most ruthless agent. Under heavy watch by the CIA however, he is more lenient to the web of time than he has ever been, and so takes changes in history far more seriously…

Alex Macqueen played this incarnation of the Master. He is tall, bald and tends to dress in bland business suits.

I would assume anybody reading this knows who GLaDOS and Wheatley are, as they are far more prominent characters in their franchise than the Time Controller and this particular incarnation of the Master.

The Scene:

The Doctors meddling with the Time Controllers plans on the planet Shrangor resulted in Kotris never existing. This has had a great impact, as Kotris' actions had side effects that were fundamental to the history of the universe, and now those side effects don't exist. Not only that, but Time is now very unstable, and even the slightest tampering in history could set off the instability to create a temporal maelstrom.

*The CIA is not a poke from me at the American organization of the same name. It is a legitimate part of the Doctor Who continuity.


	2. The Quest Begins

I

"DALEK TIME CONTROLLER ENTERING CONTROL ROOM!" Dalek unit 66783421-Gamma reported as the primary door to the Dalek Temporal Control Hub slid open to reveal the commander of all Dalek temporal operations.

"Report!" The Time Controller barked.

"ALL TEMPORAL OPERATIONS CONTINUING AT MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY. NOTHING TO REPORT."

"Understood. Return to your duties."

"I OBEY!" and with that 66783421-Gamma returned quickly to his control post.

The Dalek Time Controller also advanced through the vast control room, observing each and every Dalek present which was in turn each observing on their control screens each and every aspect of Dalek operations across time and space. He proceeded past these Daleks to a small, secure door at the far end of the room. It opened at his approach, and the Time Controller entered his Temporal Meditation Chamber.

It was here the Dalek Time Controller would analyse with scrutiny the myriad complexities and changes in the Web of Time, the patterns of which had been permanently ingrained into his mind following the explosion of the Amethyst Viral Containment Station. The chamber's situation in Dalek Temporal Control was the best place for this: at the heart of a hollowed-out planetoid suspended in the Time Vortex. And so, the Time Controller meditated, looking for any change — any distortion in the Web of Time that could be ultimately beneficial for the Daleks. The Doctor's hand in erasing Kotris from existence on the Planet Shrangor would leave those changes and distortions rampant, but most were so insignificant they were barely worth any attention.

Huxuga Novent, a Raxocorricofallapatorian film star, had now taken a step 1mm to the left in this new timeline than she had in the previous one.

Kitty Donaldson, a wealthy aristocrat in 20th Century England, had not died of temporal exposure in Earth's First World War. That was of no consequence: that death was an anomaly anyway following Dalek interference co-ordinated by the Time Controller himself in the old timeline.

Bert Higgins, a colonist on Jaltus Major, had got a Jalturian mosquito bite on his knee rather than his neck…

The consequences of this Time Shift were rampant but so small even the Time Lords didn't appear to have noticed. It was almost disappointing that there was no great change that had to be dealt with or exploited…wait…

The Dalek Time Controller sensed yet another change, but this one more profound…Xarfel Yool.

Xarfel was a scientist. He worked on the Planet Halalka but fled after a Dalek temporal attack orchestrated by Kotris and the Time Controller. Xarfel fled to the planet Grethin, where more Daleks, this time from a very early point in the time stream, captured him. The Daleks in that part of the Timeline had little temporal expertise and used Xarfel to help them develop time corridors that would evolve to give the Dalek Empire the ability to move entire armies and battle fleets not necessarily designed for time travel backwards and forwards in time.

However, in this new timeline, because Kotris didn't exist, the temporal attack on Halalka never happened so Xarfel was never captured by the early Daleks which meant that now, Daleks did not have time corridor technology. The Time Controller was immediately taken aback by astonishment and fear. Astonishment that he hadn't already noticed the lack of time corridors in this new timeline but, then again, the temporal shift was recent and had disorientated him. The fear was more profound: fear of the implications a lack of time corridor technology could have, particularly with the Time Lords now more than vigilant concerning the Daleks. Time corridor technology must be redeveloped, and fast! The Dalek Time Controller returned to his meditation, to find an opportune moment to enter the timeline again, and acquire the time corridor technology… 

Thousands upon thousands of years prior to this, and trillions of light years away, below the surface of a little blue planet, in the Aperture Science Enrichment centre, the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System—GLaDOS—was bored. She was now performing her 676, 776th test on two of the most moronic robots who ever lived. Well, of course she wasn't counting the one that stuffed her in a potato but _he_ was so idiotic he would have needed a separate list. Anyhow, these robots were, admittedly, slightly more intelligent than Wheatly but still appeared to lack the intelligence to complete even as basic a test as picking up a cube and placing it on a button.

Instead, Atlas and P-Body were playing about with their handheld portal devices and giggling, and GLaDOS had the distinct impression that their giggling was directed at _her_.

"When you've quite finished." She announced. "There is testing to do. Please place the Weighted Storage Cube on the Fifteen Hundred Megawatt Aperture Science Heavy Duty Super-Colliding Super Button."

The robots ignored her and continued their giggling and playing about.

"All right." GLaDOS made a sound almost akin to a sigh. "But it's your funeral."

The ceiling panel descended so quickly the robots didn't have time to notice it before they were rather satisfyingly crushed beneath it into 2 rather large mounds of metal that held the vague vestige of a robot.

GLaDOS sighed again. Whilst it had been fun to crush them, she would now, have to rebuild them and experience the same mind-numbing process all over again. It was as though the robots thought a few hundred thousand tests were enough and then they could just stop trying. IT WASN'T ENOUGH! So far, half of GLaDOS' results on these robots composed of the 3 words 'Did Not Complete'. On that note…she labelled yet another result table with 'Did not Complete' with no capital on the 'not', because she felt like it.

She just wanted something legitimately interesting to come along. To crush robots to death for eternity was satisfying in the moment but that was only because the rest of the procedure was so painfully boring that she had to take it out on something. As much as she hated to admit it, it was actually _better_ with the girl around. At least when she was around there was some excitement—a threat to deal with no matter how puny it was. Hell, she'd even prefer to deal with _Wheatly_ — actually that was a stupid idea, no she _wouldn't_.

It would be nice to have something new to deal with, something with at least basic intelligence that would pose a challenge. Something that would get through the tests without messing about.

Of course, being buried underground and without any outside contact, the likelihood of discovery by anything was infinitesimally small. Infinitesimally. 

"We must go to the Aperture Science Enrichment centre and secure their Spatial Distortion technology immediately!" The Time Controller explained to the assembled delegates of the Dalek Supreme Council. "These devices are portable, easily compatible with our technology and have huge potential!"

"AGREED." The Dalek Supreme Admiral replied. "LANDING FORCES WILL BE EASIER TO DEPLOY AND MORE DEVASTATING TO THE ENEMY. WE MUST SECURE THEM! THE TIME CONTROLLER MUST DISTPATCH A RETREIVAL SQUAD BEFORE THE TIME LORDS CAN INTERVENE!"

"AGREED." The Dalek Supreme General concurred. "BUT THIS OPERATION IS TO BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DALEK TIME CONTROLLER."

This was good! The Time Controller had appeared to gain the support of the 2 most powerful members in the council, aside from himself and the Dalek Emperor.

The Emperor himself was at the opposite end of the long, metallic conference table that the Supreme Council flanked. He had been silent the entire meeting, his vast spherical upper section pulsating with the light of his internal systems. However, he broke his silence with a single word.

"NO."

"Why?" The Time Controller immediately retorted, in anger. "Our Temporal Command needs…"

"DO NOT UNDERMINE ME TIME CONTROLLER! I AM…"

"I HAVE SEEN ALL OF TIME AND SPACE! I KNOW WHAT HAS AND WILL BE AND I KNOW THAT TO ACQUIRE THE APERTURE TECHNOLOGY IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE!"

"DO NOT QUESTION ME! I AM YOUR SUPERIOR!" The Emperor boomed, in equal anger. "WE NEED NOT UTILISE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED BY INFERIOR BEINGS! THE DALEKS CAN DEVELOP SUCH TECHNOLOGY IN TIME!"

"THE TECHNOLOGY IS NEEDED NOW!" The Supreme Admiral explained. "THE TIME CONTROLLER IS CORRECT! OUR WAR WITH THE MOVELLANS AND MECHANOIDS WILL SWING FURTHER IN OUR FAVOUR IF WE CAN UNTILISE THIS SPATIAL DISTORTION TECHNOLOGY."

"THE ENEMY WILL BE CONFUSED AND DISORIENTATED BY THE TECHNOLOGY. OUR REPUTATION WILL BE IMPROVED AND THE UNIVERSE WILL KNOW US FURTHER AS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!" said the Supreme General.

"You must understand the importance of our work. Temporal warfare is a new front we must adapt to. We must be hasty before another power acquires this technology. If our enemies realise we are looking for it…"

"UNDERSTOOD!" the Emperor interrupted, and all was silent for a few seconds. The Time Controller attempted to interpret what the Emperor meant by that, whether he agreed or whether he was merely taking into account their comments.

"I…GIVE AUTHORISATION FOR A _SMALL_ RECCONAISANCE MISSION TO RETREIVE THE APERTURE TECHNOLOGY. WHAT THREATS ARE IDENTIFIED IN THE FACILITY?"

"None whatsoever." The Time Controller was already excited. "The governing artificial intelligence should be long dead when we arrive. Aside from that, from what data we have recovered, the only military defences are automated turrets, which use primitive ammunition that cannot penetrate Dalek force-shields. However, we cannot be too careful. I shall bring a Special Weapons Dalek to assist…"

"I TRUST YOU TO MANAGE TO OPERATION." The Emperor interrupted. "THIS COUNCIL MEETING IS DISMISSED."

And with that, the Daleks assembled began to disband and depart. The Time Controller was almost ecstatic. When this technology was recovered, the Daleks would return to the state they were in the original timeline.

Unstoppable! 

In a very local time zone but yet again trillions of light years hence, on the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterbarous, deep within the Headquarters of the mysterious and secretive Celestial Intervention Agency, the Castellan of the Gallifreyan Capitol had been called to a covert meeting. The timing of this meeting both irritated him and terrified him. If the CIA wanted to speak to him at such a late hour, what they had to say must have been important.

"What is it?" The Castellan asked as the infamous agent Narvin approached him. "This had better be important."

"It is, Castellan. Come with me." Narvin turned back the way he had come down a rather gloomy corridor, and the Castellan followed, with apprehension. These CIA people always imbued a strange tension in him, as though he was a pupil in a school whom had said something he thought was clever but was in fact extremely stupid.

"What's it about?" the Castellan asked.

"The Daleks, Castellan."

Oh no. "Wh-what about them?"

"Since the Time Shift, they seem to have been trying to recover the technology they lost due to history changing. Look." Narvin stopped in a small, dark, concrete chamber, where he tapped a control and activated a projection of a Relativity Map displaying the arc of foreign temporal influence.

"The Daleks appear to be looking for the Spatial Distortion technology at the Aperture Science Enrichment Centre, a facility on Earth, in the 22nd Century." Narvin explained.

"I didn't know the humans _had_ spatial distortion technology in…"

"They didn't. After the time shift a lot of things changed. One of those things was a man called Cave Johnson setting up a business in the Earth continent of America. In the old timeline he failed but in the new one he established this Aperture Company. Their spatial distortion technology was largely kept secret but if the Daleks have found out about it and capture it they may well fulfil our prophecy of Dalek universal conquest. This technology is very powerful."

"Why did you summon me?"

"Protocol, Castellan. You see I want to send an agent after the Daleks…

" _Not_ the Doctor." The Castellan interrupted. The CIA had a penchant for sending _him_ in, and when they did it wouldn't end well.

"Don't worry," Narvin chuckled, "the Doctor has _other things_ to worry about. No, we're sending in Agent Kappa Chee."

The Castellan froze. Suddenly the Doctor seemed a brilliant prospect. "You…you can't be serious?"

"I am serious, Castellan." Narvin replied. "The Daleks have to be stopped. If they develop this technology they could easily breach our transduction barriers and invade Gallifrey like _that_. Kappa Chee may be a bit dangerous but he's never failed a mission. Anyway, I need your consent so…"  
"NO!" the Castellan protested angrily. "I can't let Kappa Chee loose on Earth in my right mind."

" _Castellan_." Narvin said, sternly.

The Castellan believed in his cause, but was weak. He just wanted to get back to sleep…

"All-alright," he stuttered.

"Good!" Narvin smiled. "Then we can begin!" 

"TEMPORAL ENGINES ONLINE!" Reported Reconnaissance Unit 1. "TIME GENERATORS LOADED ONBOARD! WE ARE READY!"

"Excellent." The Time Controller made a gesture within his casing almost like a smile. "Set course for the Aperture Facility. Date: 17: 03 hours, 21st April 2144." That was the point at which he had identified the Aperture technology, where he knew for certain it would be.

"CO-ORDINATES SET! DEMATERIALISING!"

There was a loud metallic throb as the Dalek Timeship left Temporal Control and began propelling itself back in time. The Time Controller was confident that this operation was going to be easy. Upon materialisation, Dalek units would place each of the 4 Time Generators in strategic positions around the facility, so that when the timeship dematerialised, the entire facility would be transported into the future where its secrets could be accessed in their entirety. The 2 Dalek units and Special Weapons Dalek that accompanied the Time Controller on this mission would easily crush any resistance. Not that there was likely to be any resistance…


	3. Reception Comitee

II

Well, this was new. The robots had actually got into Test Chamber 1. GLaDOS was almost taken aback. Maybe she had underestimated these robots' intelligence. Then, the robots started just to jump around and mess about with their portal guns again and GLaDOS realised no, she hadn't underestimated the robots' intelligence, they were still has stupid as before.

"Will you ever do _anything_ vaguely resembling completing this test? Its not that hard."

The Robots continued as though she hadn't spoken. GLaDOS didn't like being ignored.

"If you ignore me again I will be forced to crush you again."

The robots once again, ignored her. And so, almost idly, GLaDOS once again activated a ceiling panel and the Robots were once again smashed into crumpled pieces of metal. Was this all a punishment for something? Had she done something wrong? _Yeah_ , she'd killed almost everyone in the Aperture Science Enrichment Centre with Neurotoxin, but…wait! Something…unusual was happening somewhere in the facility. She could sense it, her circuits were screaming at her something was amiss, and she tried to focus on exactly where it was – the reception!

GLaDOS quickly went over to peer out of the security camera that gave her a view of what _had_ been the reception area, before it became all…overgrown. Something was happening there—there was a strange, pulsating metallic throb, echoing through the room. Was it a sound glitch? Oh god, please not a sound glitch.

It wasn't a sound glitch. Her visual sensors registered that something was materialising—a large grey box, with no distinguishing features other than that it was appearing out of nowhere. Any human would most likely be either terrified or at least shouting something along the lines of "OH MY DAYS!"

However, GLaDOS wasn't human, and she was primarily intrigued. Grey boxes didn't materialise every day. This box needed analysis, but before she activated a transportation tube to extract the box, along with the vegetation that had overgrown the room, the panel of the box facing GLaDOS' camera slid into seemingly nowhere to reveal a strange machine, proceeded to glide out.

This machine was primarily silver in hue, with a silver dome atop a strange black grating and below that still a silver slatted midsection, which was in turn above a set of protruding armour slits, each slit attached to vertical sets of 4 light blue hemispheres. There were also 3 appendages: 2 at the midsection—a strange elongated one looking suspiciously similar to a plunger, and a silver, stubby one that looked quite like an egg whisk—and 1 protruding from the dome—what appeared to be an eyestalk emitting a rather lifeless white stare.

As this machine exited its capsule, GLaDOS made a sound that was the closest she could to chuckling. COMPANY! AT LAST! Now, to run this through some tests…wait…

 _Another_ of the beings was exiting the capsule, even though the 1st one would have occupied all the space within it. Then, _another_ one, this time with some sort of large cannon supplanting everything above the armoured slits. And then _another_ , this time with an elongated grating around which spun sets of large, shimmering rings, and a dark blue primary colour with silver globes.

A human would most likely say that it was "theirs not to reason why" but GLaDOS' _was_ to reason why! How had they all fitted into that machine? For once, she was completely baffled. It wasn't a nice sensation. She not only had no idea how the cabinet worked, but she hadn't the faintest clue who these machines were or why they were here. She guessed they were…robots?

" _AREA SECURE!"_ one of the silver machines spoke, in a harsh, grating tone, as if they were a robotic sergeant. Maybe they were.

" _Excellent."_ The Blue machine spoke in a slightly more refined but still maliciously grating voice. " _Now we can begin our work. Begin to place Time Generators. DESTROY THE DOOR!"_

Uh-oh. No, GLaDOS thought, she didn't want anybody blasting their way into the facility. She would have to distract them so they could be captured and subject to testing. 

" _Hello."_ A cool, female, artificial voice echoed through the room. " _And welcome to the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Centre."  
_ Most likely an announcement system. Nothing to worry about.

"SQUADRON!" the Time Controller ordered. "DESTROY THE DOOR! FIRE!"

The room was illuminated with blue light as the Daleks fired in conjunction with each other, and then there was a huge orange flash and all the Special Weapons Daleks' blast was confined into a powerful beam that entirely expelled itself upon the door. When the light had faded, the Time Controller was displeased to observe that the door remained completely intact, save a few scorch marks.

"DOOR RESISTANT TO DALEK FIREPOWER." Reported Unit 2.

"I can see that!" The Time Controller responded angrily.

A sound came over the Announcement system again which sounded suspiciously like somebody attempting not to laugh.

" _Aperture Science requests that you do not fire weapons on the door."_

"THIS DELAY IS UNNACEPTABLE!" The Dalek Time Controller shouted in agitation. "UNIT 1, OVERRIDE THE DOOR CONTROLS! IMMEDIATELY!"

"I OBEY." Unit 1 proceeded to the array of controls on the desk to the left of the Timeship and accessed them with his manipulator arm.

" _Aperture Science requests that you do not attempt to access the Aperture Science Control Panel unless authorised by a member of staff."_

"AND DEACTIVATE THE ANNOUNCMENT SYSTEM SO I DO NOT HAVE TO LISTEN TO ANY MORE OF ITS MINDLESS PRATTLING!"

" _My prattling isn't mindless. It isn't even prattling. I'm rather offended by that."_

 _What_? The announcement system was…speaking back?

"WHO ARE YOU?"

" _I think the question of the day is who are_ YOU _?"_

Suddenly, Unit 1 was illuminated by electricity.

"SYSTEMS FAILIURE! SYSTEMS FAILIURE! COMMAND NETWORK HACKED! COMMAND NETWORK HACKED!" 

Ah, _there_ it was. GLaDOS was happy not to be confused anymore. That stupid… _Dalek_ …had not realised that by accessing Aperture Systems she could very easily come the other way and download all their data. So, these were _Daleks._ Not _robots_ but genetically modified beings…from the planet _Skaro_! These were extraterrestrial beings! Rather aggressive, weren't they?

The blue Dalek—wait a minute…the _Dalek Time Controller_ turned towards its fellow Dalek that was being hacked and _oh, no_.

" _EXTERMINATE!_ " and suddenly, the Dalek was destroyed in a ball of flame and her connection was lost. But she had enough data now to get at least a basic idea on what these Daleks were here for. The Time Controller glared into the security camera, staring right at her.

" _YOU WILL SURRENDER THIS FACILITY TO THE DALEKS OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"_

Ha! Good one.

"You're not going anywhere, Time Controller. Well, you are actually, but not where you want to go."

GLaDOS activated the extraction tube and watched with excitement as it descended.

"Its time for testing." She announced.

" _NO!"_ the Time Controller appeared extremely angry, and that's what made him all the more funny. " _YOU WILL LEARN! YOU WILL SOON KNOW THE TRUE MIGHT OF THE DALEKS! EXTERMINATE!"_

There was a fizz of static as the Time Controller destroyed GLaDOS' camera in reception but that didn't matter, she could still hear them flailing in amusing distress.

" _ALERT! IMMENSE AIR PRESSURE DETECTED! AM BEING SUCKED IN! CANNOT CONTROL! CANNOT CONTROL! EXTERMINATE! WEAPONARY NONFUNCTIONAL! CANNOT CONTROL! CANNOT CON…ARRGHHH!"_

She didn't know which Dalek that was but it was utterly hilarious. Now, time for testing…


	4. Incoming Maelstrom

III

Celestial Intervention Agency Kappa Chee, or as pretty much everyone else called him, the Master, stepped out of his TARDIS into the reception room of the Aperture Science Enrichment Centre in a jovial mood.

"June 21st, 2000AD!" The Master boasted. "Lets see you get around _this_ one, Daleks!"

Yes, he had successfully managed to arrive 144 years earlier than his favourite killer pepper-pots, and thus was feeling extremely smug. He liked feeling smug. Who didn't? Now, to business…

Suddenly, the Master realised that the reception room was completely empty. He was surprised he hadn't already noticed—nobody had arrested him for breaking in or something like that—but he was still taken slightly aback. In this time period the Aperture Science facility should have been bustling with activity for at least a month before the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System went on her little killing spree. And yet, he could hear absolutely nothing.

"HULLOOOO?" The Master called. "ANYBODY?"

There was no response.

Maybe it was an inset day. Or maybe the staff was on strike—to be honest, the Master couldn't care less, he just had to get the Portal Gun and get back to Gallifrey. He reached into his pocket and brought out his CIA standard issue Sonic _Probe_ —not _screwdriver_ —and held it to the sliding door ahead of him.

 _Vreeeee!_ CLUNK!

The door slowly began to slide open, dispersing a large amount of dust. It evidently hadn't been used in a while—what was it with the Master's delayed response time— _the entire room was coated in dust_! There was even some small sprouts of vegetation growing through the paving in the floor. This reception room had been unused for quite literally ages.

The door continued to open at a pace so slowly even a dead snail could probably overtake it, to reveal a pitch-black corridor.

Something was very wrong here. The Master checked his watch. This was definitely June; maybe he'd arrived in the wrong year? He turned around to re-enter his TARDIS, which was disguised as a rather conspicuous computer bank with a large hatch in the centre for entry and exit. The Master returned through this hatch and proceeded to the console, to check that this actually was the year _2000_ , not _4000_.

No…all readouts showed this _was_ 21st June 2000, in the Aperture Science Enrichment Centre and all historical records showed that there was _no_ strike or inset day or _anything_ on that date to cause the degree of abandonment that he had observed in that room. According to CCTV footage the reception was bustling with people for the entire day, all of them wishing to observe the progress of the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System. He had to do some further examination of the timelines: Aperture was a relatively new addition to history but intereference in its history was a fundamental threat to the universe.

In the old timeline it never existed because its original branch, Aperture Fixtures, collapsed very early on following its direct rival gaining a funding boost in 1943 from the sale of an unusual 1940 photograph of the Doctor and Molly O' Sullivan at Dunkirk. The Master had no idea who would buy the photo that wasn't even that old at the time for so much, or how the rival even had the photograph. This photograph however now never existed since it was only taken because Molly and the Doctor were on the run from Kotris. Kotris now never existed and thus neither did the photograph, so it was now Aperture's rival that collapsed and thus the chain of events was set off that led to Aperture Science's formation.

This was a change, but not one that was particularly important. Time had largely compensated for the major changes but those changes still existed. For instance, the scientists whose descendants would invent the Glittergun were present upon GLaDOS' activation and were killed when she flooded the facility with Neurotoxin, prolonging the Cyber-Wars by a few years.

But whilst the impact was minimal, any change no matter how slight (although the apparent abandonment of the facility appeared more than slight) in such a new part of history could set off the quite literal time bomb left behind from the temporal shift, resulting in a maelstrom that could not only jeopardise the well-being of the time vortex but its very _existence_ , along with that of the entire Universe

Dalek Unit 2 reactivated to become painfully aware of an irritating noise humans referred to as 'music'. He did not know how music was supposed to work and utterly loathed it. However, he utterly loathed anything that wasn't Dalek-related and thus loathing music was nothing particularly unexpected from him.

His optical sensors flickered back into life, to reveal that Unit 2 was confined within a glass cubicle with no visible exit. Within this cubicle aside from himself was a small table upon which was placed a radio (from which the music was emanating) and a small clay construct humans used for the consumption of liquid. Adjacent to this table was a device humans used to expunge their digestive waste, and to Unit 2's left was a cryogenic suspension apparatus designed for the use of humanoid life. He was beginning to wonder how he came to be here before his memory banks back online. And then he became extremely angry.

" _Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Computer Aided Enrichment Centre."_ It was the computer that had somehow detained him. _"We hope your brief detention in the relaxation vault has been a pleasant one. Your specimen has been processed and we are now ready to begin the test proper. Before we start, however, keep in mind that although fun and learning are the primary goals of all enrichment centre activities, serious injuries may occur. For your own safety and the safety of others, please refrain from…"_

"SILENCE!" Unit 2 interjected. "YOU WILL SURRENDER TO THE DALEKS NOW OR BE EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATED!"

" _You have said 'exterminated' 4 times now. It doesn't get anymore threatening each time. In fact, it makes you seem pretty desperate. As I was saying, please refrain from…"_

Enough of this!

"EXTERMINATE!" Unit 2 fired upon the glass of the cubicle, which immediately shattered.

" _What a waste of glass."_

"YOU WILL BE SILENT!" Unit 2 glared around for an exit to the chamber the cubicle was held in. There was a door to the end, which appeared to be of the same design as the one his squadron had failed to breach in the reception area. However, persistence would prevail!

"EXTERMINATE!" Unit 2 fired on the door. The door remained still and unblemished.

"EXTERMINATE!" Unit 2 fired again, and again there was no effect.

"EXTERMIN…"

" _You know that door isn't locked. You don't need to blast it down."_

"YOUR ADVICE IS UNASKED FOR…"

" _It's not advice. I actually happen to run this place."_

Suspiciously, Unit 2 approached the door slowly, and at a range of approximately 30 earth centimetres it slid open, to reveal another chamber.

" _Told you_." The Computer said with an air of smugness. This angered Unit 2 further.

"WHILE THE DALEKS USE YOUR ADVICE, WE DO NOT _NEED_ YOUR ADVICE! WE ARE THE SUPERIOR BEINGS AND CAN SOLVE SUCH THINGS INDEPENDANTLY."

" _I'll believe that when I see it."_

Unit 2 advanced into the next chamber to observe a large red pressure pad, which appeared to be connected to another door. In the corner was a large, grey cube object. Unit 2, wishing to prove he was not low in intelligence, proceeded to remove the cube with his manipulator arm and place it on the button. The door slid open to reveal an open lift, shielded by some form of energy field.

A sound akin to the impact of humanoid hands echoed through the room. Each impact was spaced widely apart from the other. Unit 2 knew that 'clapping' in this manner was used to signify subjects were impressed. Was this Computer impressed?

" _Wow. I am astonished you were able to complete that terrifyingly simple task without my instruction. Oh wait a minute, no I'm not."_

Unit 2 was angered once more. "YOUR IRONY IS NOT APPRECIATED!"

" _Oh, shut up."_ The Computer seemed to return to a pre-programmed routine- _"Please proceed to the chamberlock after completing each test. Please note the material emancipation grill is designed to vaporise any unauthorised equipment that passes through it. For instance, the Aperture Science Weighted Storage…"_

"EXTERMINATE!" Having identified the emitters of this 'Emancipation Grill', Unit 2 blasted a beam of energy around the edge of the corridor where these embitters were present. To his satisfaction, the beam flickered before dissipating. This facility wasn't completely indestructible.

" _Are you going to keep destroying Aperture equipment like this?"_

"YES! THE DALEKS WILL NEVER BE RESTRAINED BY INFERIOR SPECIES!"

" _Huh. I expected as much. That's why I took the liberty of making all the equipment beyond this chamber resistant to your firepower. Sorry about that. Please proceed into the elevator."_

Unit 2 obeyed, but only because he had no other options, and proceeded into the lift.


	5. Arguments and Dissections

IV

A spark.

A light in the eternal darkness.

The Dalek Time Controller rapidly reasserted his senses. He had been captured! The computer that operated this facility was far more powerful than anticipated and had ensnared the Time Controllers squadron in a vacuum tube! And now…he glared around in anger at his surroundings. He was in a large, empty chamber with a door at the end of the type he had encountered and failed to breach in reception.

" _Hello Dalek Time Controller. Good to see you're awake again."_

The Computer. The Time Controller searched for the security camera he knew was observing him.

"Identify yourself." He snarled.

" _I don't think that's necessary. Yet. You appear to be at a disadvantage now. It must be strange for you. You know nothing about me but I know everything about you."_

"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF ME!"

" _Want to bet?"_

This Computer evidently had nothing of value to provide save distractingly useless comments.

"You have no understanding of the journey I have made. I have seen the universe burn and reshape. I have observed the infinity of time as slices its way across the eternal void."

" _If you have seen all of time, which I doubt, I would assume you realised how utterly insignificant you were. Compared to me anyway."_

That comment was unpleasantly similar to the one the Doctor made when _he_ learnt the Time Controller had seen infinity. With stupidity on this level he realised arguing with this computer was worthless.

" _Nothing to say?"_

"YOU WILL BE SILENT!"

" _You only ever ask for silence, and yet you are some of the noisiest things I have ever encountered. You should try a softer tone, maybe like mine?"_

"VOCAL TONES ARE IRRELEVANT!"

" _You'd be surprised. I'd bet your conquest of Earth in 10 years would have been so much easier if you didn't shout at them 24/7. I might tell them that when they arrive."_

"How do you know…"

" _I know everything! I know that you've come across your personal time streams to get the Aperture Portal Device and you know what? You're not getting it. This facility is not getting transported into the future and…"_

"EXTERMINATE!" Having identified the security camera, the Time Controller fired on it, causing it to explode instantly.

"You may have the upper hand presently, but I will find you. And when I do, you will face the full wrath of the Daleks!"

" _And on that day, Satan will be skating to work."_

The door at the end of the room slid open.

The Dalek Time Controller glided, seething with anger, to the door and through it into a dark, dingy corridor, before pausing. A piece of data he held about the facility clicked with him. He had realised to whom he was speaking.

"You are identified." He explained with satisfaction. "I believed you were long since inactive. You are the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System. An Artificial Intelligence developed by the humans."

" _I prefer GLaDOS."_ GLaDOS replied. " _I am impressed you have attained my identity without help."_

"I DO NOT REQUIRE YOU TO BE IMPRESSED! I WILL FIND AND DESTROY YOU!"

" _Then come and try. I'm not going to test you like your associates. Lets see if you can get through this place."_

" _This decision is one you will regret. When I find you, you will wish that you had perished long ago."_ The Dalek Time Controller left his chamber into the bowels of Aperture Science, and GLaDOS chuckled.

"When you find me, I _will_ have perished long ago. Have a fun orienteering session!" 

The Time Controller began a retort but GLaDOS shut him out. It was good to be actually _doing_ something again after conducting so many pointless tests on those robots. For once, a challenge might actually await her! Although, from what she'd seen of these Daleks, they suffered from a terrible superiority complex. Whilst hacking their system revealed a powerful collective intelligence, the Daleks appeared to think that shouting at something and threatening them with death for long enough would allow them to get their way. And if they didn't have the power to threaten their opponent with death, like now, they were useless.

GLaDOS looked forward to seeing how they would fare in her tests. Unit 2 appeared to possess a relatively high intelligence that had been suppressed to average human level by thousands of layers of conditioning, and had thus been given human-level tests. The Special Weapons Dalek appeared to possess _human_ level intelligence that had been suppressed under thousands of layers of conditioning and had thus been given insect-level tests. They would most likely fail. The Time Controller on the other hand…

He was the one element that concerned her. Whilst she had taunted and annoyed the Time Controller whilst he was stuck in his chamber, from what data she had gathered this Dalek had been genetically engineered as a temporal strategist that could understand the ebb and flow of time. He had seen all of history, and whilst she had mocked that, this Dalek's fierce and unsuppressed intelligence might only be matched by her own, and that was concerning. On second thoughts, allowing him to roam freely through the facility may not have been such a good idea. Oh well.

But there were other things to think about—most importantly the remnants of unit 1 that had been brought into her central chamber. The Time Controller had blasted him to stop GLaDOS using him as an information gateway—GLaDOS had therefore been able to learn mere snippets of information about the Daleks.

Anyhow, unit 1 had not been completely destroyed—the mutant creature inside survived. She could see it now: an octopedal creature squirming and writhing inside what had been its environment chamber—a mixture of anger and fear. It was utterly revolting.

"Hello," GLaDOS said, making no attempt to hide her disgust, "Time for dissection and analysis."

Unit 1 was weak, but it lurched back away from her with incredible speed. It was caught, however, by the automated restraints that GLaDOS rapidly deployed.

"Not so fast. We haven't even started yet."

The Dalek squeaked desperately.

"You want to speak? Oh well…"

A further automated arm descended so the Dalek could be reconnected to its vocal unit, from which it had come dislodged.

"Here you go. Don't say I'm not generous."

"GENEROSITY IS IRRELEVANT!" the Dalek was already bellowing as though it was in perfect condition and ready to fire at a moment's notice. "YOU WILL RELEASE ME NOW! OBEY! OBEY! OBEY!"  
GLaDOS laughed. "Ha, Ha. You really think it'll be that easy?"

"EXTERMINATE!"

 _POW!_ To GLaDOS' astonishment, the Daleks gun, though damaged, was still fully functional and Unit 1 had fired it almost directly at her, missing her by barely a centimetre. The blast impacted on a panel behind her, leaving a large scorch mark but nothing more.

"I'll be taking that." GLaDOS swiftly had the automated arm remove the gun.

The Dalek made a sound almost akin to a groan. The blast had almost certainly drained a lot of its energy, which wasn't much.

"YOU…UNDDERESTIMATED ME. YOU…OVERESTIMATE YOURSELF."

"Really?" GLaDOS asked. "How amusing. I think you've failed to notice that I'm still alive."

"YOU WILL NOT OPERATE ON ME!"

"Actually I will. Science involves sacrifices. And for science, you'll have to sacrifice your life. Don't worry. It won't hurt."

"YOU LIE! YOU ALWAYS LIE!"

GLaDOS was impressed. "You've caught on. Yes, it will hurt. Happy?"

"NO! DO NOT HURT ME! HAVE MERCY! HAVE MERCYYYYYYY!"

What a hypocrite. "You were prepared to blast my brains out a few seconds ago. What has changed since then? Why should I blast, or rather _cut_ , your brains out?"

"BUT YOU CANNOT KILL ME! YOU CANNOT! YOU CANNNNNOT!"

"Why? Are you immortal?"

"NO! BUT YOU MUSN'T! YOU MUSTN'T!"

"Are you intrinsically linked to the fabric of the universe? Will the world end if you die?"

"NO! BUT PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE!"

"You are so hypocritical." GLaDOS voiced her opinion to the Dalek. "You feel that you can just go about killing everyone else, but nobody else has the right to kill you. Except of course, you can't kill anyone like this. You're pathetic. You just can't see it because trapped in your little cage screaming. Until now."

"THE DALEKS DESTROY TO SURVIVE!"

"Is that what you tell yourself? I don't blame you. I'd tell myself that too if I were you. I'm good at lying." GLaDOS began to engage the dissection apparatus. "Now, time to find out the biological reason you are so pathetic. This should be fun."

"NO!" the Dalek was no longer squirming but jolting in vain as it tried to escape from its restraints. "YOU WILL RELEASE ME OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

GLaDOS ignored him. "Lets begin. See you later—oh wait, _lied again_."

The dissection apparatus descended on the Dalek like a predator attacking its prey.

"NO! STOP! STOP! STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" The Dalek let out a horrific scream as the first operation began. The first of many.


	6. A Very Unlikely Meeting

V

 _Blip! Blip! Blip!_

For Rassilon's sake! The timelines were damaged far more than the Time Lords thought, the Master realised in fear as he examined the results of his chronon scan around Aperture.

Having left 2000 and now stationary in the time vortex, the Master had set his TARDIS to conduct scans of the Timelines around Aperture. The chronon trail stretched across Aperture's existence were like a scar from 1943 and forwards the 23rd Century when it was recovered, bought and dissolved by the Ides Scientific Institute. The Chronons weren't just unstable, but were tearing themselves apart as though something had veered history off course at every turn.

This had to be dealt with. The Master knew as well as anyone else that he was not one to be the hero, but this temporal disaster on the horizon threatened his own interests as much as anyone else's. He was going to have to track down the source of this interference and end it once and for all.

"Time to save the universe!" he boasted to the air particles suspended in the TARDIS console room, as he returned to the console itself and engaged the Temporal Scanner. He would identify whether this interference was due to natural temporal aftershocks from the Shrangor incident or changes conducted by design. Whatever it was, it would soon have to contend with _him_!

 _Knock, knock, knock._

The Master stopped.

 _Knock, knock, knock._

Somebody was tapping on the door to his TARDIS!

 _Knock, knock, knock._

This was impossible. He was in the time vortex. Anything outside those doors should have been torn to chronon-charged smithereens and blasted across the aeons. _Should have been._

 _Knock, knock, knock._

This was now getting slightly agitating. Putting facts aside for a second, the Master went over to the door as though it was that of a house.

"Coming!" he called. What's the worst that could happen, anyhow? The Master thought. It wasn't like he was going to meet oh he didn't know…a terminally stupid robot with a West Country accent—

The Master flung open the door to reveal what appeared to be a large, segmented, white metallic orb win the centre of which, behind eyelid-like flaps, was an electric blue iris that was darting around in fear. It appeared to be hooked onto one of the TARDIS' external nooks (it was still in its disguise as a computer bank) with a handle to its side, which was preventing it from being sucked into the endless abyss of time.

"LETMEINLETMEINLETMEINLETMEINLETMEIN!" it yelled quickly in what appeared to be (the Master couldn't believe it) a _computerised West Country accent._

The Master was slightly taken aback before hurriedly realising the sphere's request. "Yes, of course. Sorry."

Being inside the TARDIS' internal atmosphere, the Master had no trouble removing the sphere and carrying it into the TARDIS before closing the door.

"Thanks…" the sphere panted.

For what appeared to be a robot, this sphere had surprisingly human characteristics.

"A pleasure." The Master responded. "You nearly died there."

"I know!" the sphere replied. "I have no idea how I got there either. One minute I was in space, and someone was shouting at me about how they were in space too, and then I was on that computer, and was terrified for my life, then I saw what looked like a door and…wait a minute…" the sphere's metallic eyelids narrowed. "This room's too big to fit inside that computer! I'd only just noticed…who are you by the way?"

This sphere obviously wasn't (to use a metaphor) the brightest spanner in the tool shed.

"I am the Master." The Master explained. "Think of me as a sort of…freelance terrorist. You're in my TARDIS."

"Oh. Nice to meet you, 'Master'." The sphere said. It paused. "Sorry, does everyone call you that?"

"Mostly." The Master said, vaguely.

"Oh." The Sphere appeared to have run out of things to say. It was silent for a second. "I'm…Wheatly."

There was an awkward silence.

"And where are you from, 'Wheatley'?"

"Well, it's the Aperture place, isn't it?"

Dalek Unit 2 had now proceeded into yet another test chamber. There had been so many of these he had lost count, which for a Dalek was extremely difficult. These tests had entailed the use of the Aperture Spatial Distortion device (which the computer he had now identified as the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System referred to as 'the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device'), which had been attached to his casing, to solve spatial reasoning puzzles. The frustration at access to the equipment but lack of means of escape was immense, but with his internal transolar discs disabled and weaponry ineffective, Unit 1 had had no choice but to comply.

This new chamber appeared to be both larger and far more complicated than all he had encountered previously.

" _This final test requires co-operation with a partner."_ The Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System explained. " _Your friend the Special Weapons Dalek has been brought out of his own testing early to help you. He might not be that good though. Then again, you aren't that good either."_

There was the whine of Dalek traction repulsors as the Special Weapons Dalek entered the chamber from a door adjacent to the one Unit 2 had entered through.

" _This test will put all your knowledge collated from the previous tests to the limit. I am aware that may not be much but still…"_ the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating system stopped.

Unit 2 turned to his comrade.

"WHAT IS YOUR FUNCTIONAL STATUS?" he inquired.

"ALL SYSTEMS OPERATING AT 72% EFFICIENCY." Responded the Special Weapons Dalek.

"SATISFACTORY." Unit 2 examined the chamber. It was vast: approximately the interior size of Skaro City Imperial Throne Room. "THIS IS OUR FINAL TEST. ONCE THIS IS COMPLETE WE MAY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESCAPE…"

" _You won't. If you ever want to leave you will first have to fill out a 1500-page Aperture Science Satisfaction form, which you positively_ cannot _exterminate. My calculations indicate that to fill out this form would take…a while. Oh, and don't think about getting the Aperture Science Handheld Portal device. I'm nice enough to even consider allowing you to leave…"_

"YOU WILL BE SILENT AS WE ANALYSE THE ROOM TO PREPARE OUR STRATEGY!"

" _No. I want to see how you act in noisy conditions. I'll tell you what, how about you figure out what you're going to do whilst I recite Shakespeare's complete works."_ The Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System made a sound akin to a cough. " _I shall start with_ Julius Caesar- ' _Flavius: Hence! Home, you idle creatures get you home:_

 _Is this a holiday? What! know you not,_

 _Being mechanical, you ought not walk…'"_

Unit 2 angrily attempted to ignore the computer and trained its attention back to the task at hand.

"ARE YOU EQUIPPED WITH AN APERTURE PORTAL DEVICE?" he asked.

"AFFIRMATIVE!"

"THIS IS WHAT WE SHALL DO…"

As the Dalek Time Controller continued to proceed through the dilapidated corridors and vegetation-ridden chambers that were the lower levels of the Aperture Facility, concern was growing within him concerning GLaDOS. Sheappeared to be orchestrating this facility in a subtle but effective manner so that the Time Controller never encountered direct hindrances, but was instead disorientated. The mobile wall panels would be manipulated, or the lift directions could be altered midway, so that the Time Controller could find himself passing through the same rooms more than once. With his internal positioning system disabled, it was nearly impossible to tell whether he was legitimately going in circles or if he was being tricked. He was therefore forced to rely on his powers of observation to spot any of the tiny but present differences to attain a room's honesty.

GLaDOS' planning of these traps suggested a fierce intelligence that might only be matched by that of the Time Controller himself. That was a concerning thought considering that this was an artificial intelligence constructed by humans to operate a single scientific facility, rather than a Dalek Strategist painstakingly engineered to observe and manipulate hundreds of thousands of factors across the infinity of space-time. GLaDOS would be a powerful weapon in the hands of the Daleks. But she had chosen to stand against them, and thus must be exterminated.

The Time Controller had now finally located another lift, and advanced to it before activating the control to make it ascend.

In a way, he thought, GLaDOS almost reminded the Time Controller of _himself_. This was not a pleasant comparison, but true. They did share some similarities. _Some_. GLaDOS appeared obsessed with research, testing and strategising: that was _her_ function.

The Time Controller was also obsessed with research, testing and strategising: that was _his_ function. They were both supreme intellects, and both thought themselves superior over the other.

But the Time Controller _was_ superior, he didn't just _think_ it! The Daleks were the supreme beings! He would prevail!

The lift door opened to reveal a corridor that fitted none of the identified disguise configurations. Yet another loop had been escaped. He advanced with pride. An artificial intelligence would never get the better of him! It would be crushed, and its equipment used for the greater glory of the Dalek cause!

As he advanced down this new corridor, he became distinctly aware of the sound of operating machinery. There was a crackle as an audio system came into life.

" _Oh, you got past my maze then. No matter. I've got a lot of other things lined up."_

The Time Controller glared up at the security camera that was watching him.

"No matter how many defences you have, I shall bypass them all. The Daleks have encountered resistance of this kind before. It has always been QUASHED!"

" _I know. But I don't care. Maybe I'll set a world record for forcing a Dalek to give up. Anyway, do you want to know about your results so far?"_

"No." The Dalek Time Controller replied, seething with rage. GLaDOS may have been intelligent but her… _it's_ witless and idiotic speech induced an energy drain on his neurons.

" _Good, because you won't like them. The auto-marker has labelled you a 'mentally unstable and destitute moron who needs serious help'."_

The Time Controller realised that if he was ever going to succeed he would have to ignore GLaDOS and instead focus on his location, which was now nearing the end of the corridor and approaching what appeared to be a huge manufactory.

" _This is where we make all our turret defences that you'll encounter later on."_ GLaDOS explained. " _Wait—I meant you'll encounter them later on if you don't die whilst trying to get through this factory. You see, this specific section was not designed for visitors, so you're going to have to fly throughout this extremely volatile environment full of live ammunition and large pieces of machinery being moved through space that the equipment is programmed to believe always will be empty. Lets hope you paid attention in Dalek flying lessons!"_ The communications cut out.

There was no such thing as Dalek flying lessons—all flight techniques including evasive manoeuvres were genetically programmed into the brain of each Dalek, and thus the Time Controller was confident that he could make his way through this manufactory, however dangerous it was. He made his way to the end of the corridor, which appeared to open up into a vast room shrouded in red smoke. It was at the boundary with this smoke that the Time Controller realised that it was here that the floor stopped, and that he would now have to activate his (thankfully operational) transolar disks and navigate his way out of the factory.

"EL-E-VATE!"

GLaDOS, having finished her little chat with the Time Controller, unremorsefully surveyed the distorted and mangled remains of Dalek Unit 1. The dissection had been educational. Having learnt the bare minimum about the Daleks from the data transfer, GLaDOS now knew quite a bit about their biology.

They were definitely extraterrestrial, composed of a completely alien DNA type classed as 467-989, casting any doubts as to the Daleks' origin. They also had extremely large brains compared to the rest of their body, their cerebral tissue composing over half their total mass. As GLaDOS had predicted these Daleks appeared to have great natural intelligence, but the neural suppression devices and other equipment that dug into the Daleks' flesh had buried it in layers of pre-programmed response subroutines and codes of conduct, squashing out any trace of creativity.

They also appeared to be inherently radioactive, emitting a low level but definitely existent Gamma Signature. This radioactivity, as well as the presence of other toxins that had somehow evolved to be symbiotic to the Dalek creature meant that even without their casing, GLaDOS' favourite Neurotoxin would actually increase the Daleks' well-being, along with all of the incurable fatal diseases she had stored in her vaults, and a Nuclear Bomb.

If the Daleks weren't gunned down by the turrets, killed in unfortunate testing accidents or overwhelmed by any other of GLaDOS' defences, they may prove very difficult to kill. However, she'd planned her defences immaculately! They should be infallible!

Although, the Time Controller had successfully breached one of her most powerful defences. She had really hoped the room shifting would throw him off. The illogical nature and isolation involved in the exercise would have sent even the most intelligent human (not that that was saying much) insane and yet the Time Controller had got past it in a mere few hours. He was undoubtedly a powerful weapon in the hands of the Daleks. A powerful weapon she would overcome. When she thought about it, the Time Controller was almost like looking into a distorted mirror. They both possessed vast intellects, and from what she had gathered, he held very similar interests to hers: research, development and strategy, although his was directed to serve the interests of the Dalek Empire whereas _her_ research and development directed to serve her own interests. They even had similar personalities, both perceiving themselves superior. Except GLaDOS actually _was_ superior, in every way. Of course she was.

And yet again, she had more analysis to do: the Daleks' time capsule. If her data was correct, the large grey object that had just been dropped from a vacuum tube into her central chamber had the capability to travel through not just all of time but all of space. And not only that, but it had larger internal dimensions than those externally! But how did it all work…GLaDOS examined the seamless exterior with bewilderment _again_. Whilst as a scientist she should have been accustomed to learning new things, being out of the know was _horrible_. There was quite literally no door. She tried using a vocal command…

"Door: Open."

To her unastonishment nothing happened.

This was going to take a while…


	7. Turret Warfare and Into the Factory

VI

Oh. The Master swiftly turned around, to face 'Wheatley'. Now he came to think of it, this fellow d _id_ match some of the data in the Celestial Intervention Agency files on Aperture. If only he'd noticed beforehand. But this was bad, very, very bad. If Wheatley was from Aperture then…

"Tell me the whole story." The Master demanded. "How did you get into space? Was there and explosion, or…"

"Well, it's simple enough…" Wheatley paused again. "Actually it isn't but basically, I was doing some work at Aperture, and then there was this girl in stasis, and then she woke up because the facility was in pieces because _she_ …"

"The girl?"

"No, _her_. Anyway, _she_ had been dead for ages and ages and so the facility was sort of falling apart and we tried to escape but accidentally woke _her_ up as well, and then there was a load of sneaking about, and then after a while I took _her_ place as head of Aperture! That was great, but…"

The Master seemed to understand now. "By _her,_ do you mean GLaDOS?"

Wheatley appeared uncomfortable. "Yeah, but anyway, I sort of went…how do I put it…mad with power. Tried to kill the girl and _her_. Not sure if the girl deserved it but I had _so much_ power…"

"I know the feeling." The Master replied, honestly. "Go on."

"Then they snuck around for ages and tried to kill me. The place was falling apart now. The reactor was going to blow and the girl used a Portal Gun to suck me out into space! And then…here I am. As I said, suddenly stuck connected to your…what did you call it… _TARDIM_?"

" _TARDIS_." The Master corrected. "So, it appears you experienced the correct timeline. That's good."

"I have no idea…"

"A CORRUPTED TIMELINE!" The Master realised. "You're only here because the interference was such that it shifted you out of existence—you didn't exist. You're fortunate that I was parked in the vortex or you would have been wiped from the plane of history."

"Sorry, _I don't exist_? What do you mean?" Wheatley asked. "Have I died, and this is some kind of strange hell where people yell at me about things that I don't understand?"

The Master sighed. This was going to be tough. "I don't understand it all myself but I was sent by my people, the Time Lords, to stop our enemies, the Daleks, from invading Aperture in 2144 and taking all its technology."

"What? Time Lords? Daleks?"

"We're not human, we've got Time Travel…oh what does it matter? The point is that we've both gone back in time, but I went further back, to the year 2000 so I could beat them to it."

"2000 is not a good place to be in Aperture…"

"I arrived before GLaDOS went on her little rampage but found the area still entirely abandoned. Somebody is meddling with the fabric of history along Aperture's timeline, which is enough to set off a temporal maelstrom…"

"A _what_? A Temporal _what_?"

"THERE WAS A BIG TIMESHIFT ON SHRANGOR!" the Master bellowed in frustration. "THIS HAS LEFT A LOT OF INSTABILITY IN THE TIME VORTEX! ONE SMALL CHANGE COULD SET IT OFF AND WIPE HISTORY CLEAN!"

"All right, all right, no need to _shout_." Wheatley said, apparently oblivious to the severity of the situation. "But how do _I_ fit into this?"

The Master sighed again. Why couldn't this infernal machine make the connection himself? " _Because_ you must have been in a part of the timeline that got changed. Your entire existence shifted away. You might not exist now due to this interference and so you were dragged into the time vortex and as I said, you were fortunate enough to come across me. Got it?" The Master assumed Wheatley's silence as a 'yes'. "Good, because your part in events is insignificant compared to what is to come.

"So, this temporal thingamabob is going erase all of history?" Wheatley asked. His eye dropped in sadness. "And I might not exist…"

"OH, DO SHUT UP WILL YOU?" the Master asked in anger. He was almost regretting saving Wheatley, for he was _such a moron._ "STOP VALUING YOURSELF OVER THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE! IT'S ANNOYING!"

"Look, I'm sorry," Wheatley whimpered in a mixture of fear and almost sadness. "It's just that I've been such an idiot…I went really weird back at Aperture, and now…"

"But that never happened now," The Master interrupted slightly calmer. "You have to look at the bigger picture."

Wheatley appeared to be getting rather emotional, but seemed to understand. "I get it. This is important. I don't get how it works but I know this temporal maelstrom must be stopped."

"Exactly." The Master was glad Wheatley had seen reason, and returned to the console as though nothing had happened. He realised that if Wheatley had been dragged through the continuum, he would be charged with Chronons that could well lead back to the source of the disruption. He engaged the internal scanner and began the analysis.

Wheatley seemed to have now recovered, and was making a sound that was a very close approximation to humming. Whilst he did appear to be a robot, Wheatley possessed human-like qualities that seemed extremely advanced for an Earth AI from the 21st-22nd Centuries.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you Wheatley," the Master said. "I'm feeling a bit…how do I put it…volatile." God, the Master thought, you're going soft. Don't apologies for somebody else's stupidity!

 _Blip!_

"What was that?" Wheatley asked.

"My temporal scanner has finished reading the Chronon patterns around you." The Master checked the display. "If I find a trail I can…"

"What?"

"There isn't one, never mind." The Master had finished examining the readings and stamped his foot in frustration. WHY did it always have to be the hard way? Now he would most likely have to venture to numerous points throughout Aperture's history, trying to find the precise moment to…hang on. There _was_ a pattern in the Chronons, but the computer hadn't detected it because it was…binary? That was impossible but as he had seen as he picked up Wheatley, impossible seemed to be a guideline rather than a boundary. He copied it into the translator. It appeared to be…co-ordinates? He programmed them into the TARDIS.

"Wheatley, would you like to come with me on my journey to save the universe?"

"I thought you said you were a freelance terror…"

"Yes, but sometime's I steer away from the intergalactic villainy and instead have a go at some philanthropy. Like now. Want to help?

There was a pause. "Yes?" Wheatley asked, nervously.

"Good!" The Master's face lit up, almost jovially. "Lets see where we're going." He entered the co-ordinates into the TARDIS controls.

"So…this thing travels through time?" Wheatley asked.

"Yes." The Master replied pompously. "And it's mine. AH-HA!" The TARDIS had entered flight, the familiar metallic thrum echoing through the room. The Master checked the controls, "We are going to…oh no."

"What?"

"These co-ordinates are for Dalek Temporal Control. The most dangerous place in the universe."

Finally, unit 2 had now successfully proceeded through this final test, despite the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System's disruptive recital of Shakespeare's works. It had been tough and had taken several hours with numerous portal momentum jumps, split-second direction changes, massively acute laser positioning and much more. He was almost surprised that the Special Weapons Dalek and himself had survived, but of course the Daleks always prevailed.

"WE HAVE SUCCEEDED!" Unit 2 boasted as he entered the Chamberlock and the portals reset.

" _I know."_ The Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating system ceased its recital of Hamlet. _"It took you long enough. In fact, you were so slow I might not even keep your score with the rest so the averages of better test subjects aren't tugged down with the weighty mass of your own time."_

This had definitely not been the finest day in Dalek history but Unit 2 did not care. Even if he did not return to the fleet with the Spatial Distortion device, desperation to leave had been building deep inside him for so long now.

"YOU WILL PROVIDE THE…PAPERWORK WE MUST SIGN AND THEN YOU WILL PROVIDE US WITH OUR TIME MACHINE SO WE CAN DEPART!"

The Special Weapons Dalek demanded as they entered the lift, the doors of which immediately closed and the lift began to move.

" _I suppose it's only fair…"_ the Computer seemed almost sad. _"It's a shame testing is over. Oh wait…"_

Suddenly, the doors opened again to reveal a vast, grey, room, around which were positioned sets of gleaming white, ovoid devices which were suspended on metallic stilts with few other distinguishing features save a singular red photoreceptor that projected a laser beam. A quick scan revealed that these were in fact military turrets. Some of them were positioned along the ground, some on elevated plinths and some in elevated nooks in the walls. They appeared to have basic artificial intelligence too, as they spoke in tones similar to that of the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System but slightly more childlike.

" _Hello?"_

" _Is anyone there?"_

" _You are beings of war, yet you have had no warfare drill. Get through this and I'll let you go."_ The Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System explained. _"Oh, and don't worry, they Automated Sentry Turrets are not immune to your firepower. That doesn't mean they'll be easy to defeat though."_

Immediately, automated bullet magazines erupted from the sides of the majority of the turrets around them.

" _There you are!_ "

 _Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!_

A storm of bullets shot in the direction of both Daleks, and a surge of excitement that only comes from combat exploded through Unit 2.

"EXTERMINATE THE TURRETS!" he ordered. "EXTERMINATE THEM ALL!"

The initial wave of bullets melted into null space upon impact against the Daleks' force fields, and the Special Weapons Dalek unleashed a massive blast against a vast amount of these turrets.

 _ **POW!**_

" _I don't blame you…"_

" _Critical error…"_

" _No hard feelings…"_

There were dozens of (thankfully) destroyed turrets littering the floor now, but to unit 2's anger, sets of automated claws descended from the roof, replenishing all of them.

"WEAPON RECHARGING!" the Special Weapons Dalek wailed in urgency. "COVER ME! COVER ME!"

"EXTERMINATE!" Unit 2 fired a volley of rapid shots against a line of the turrets, each of which exploded satisfactory.

" _Goodbye…"_

" _I don't hate you…"_

" _Please stop…"_

Unit 2 searched for cover but there was none.

" _Deploying…"_

" _Hello…"_

 _Rat-a-tat-tat!_

Another volley of fire, this time far more concentrated. The bullets vanished into null space yet again but unit 2's force field was weakening. He engaged his Spatial Distortion device and aimed it at the interior of one of the nooks, behind its resident turret. A spatial distortion formed behind it. He opened another one on the floor beneath him.

"EXTERMINATE!" the turret in the nook was destroyed. Unit 2 dropped through the distortion and emerged, temporarily shielded from fire in the nook. His comrade followed soon after, and the Special Weapons Dalek proceeded to aim his weapon at the turrets now below.

 _ **POW!**_

" _Deactivating…"_

" _Whhhhhyyyyyy?"_

" _Goodnight…"_

However, almost immediately afterwards, yet more turrets were deployed from the roof.

"THESE TURRETS MUST BE DEFEATED!" unit 2 exclaimed. "FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF THE DALEK CAUSE!"

The Dalek Time Controller was now hovering through this vast, underground industrial complex with the express intention of disrupting the production lines by any means necessary. If what GLaDOS had said was true, every single one of the sentry turrets and their components rolling along the conveyor belts around him would soon be up against him. However, disrupting these production lines was near-impossible due to a variety of factors including the closed nature of the manufacturing facilities, the resistance of the equipment to Dalek firepower and the fact that he was constantly forced to dodge extremely large moving pieces of equipment like most of the areas of this facility.

He was now coming along what appeared to be some form of finalization section. Turret after turret was rolling into some sort of scanner, which seemed to compare them to a template in a nearby booth.

"Template?" A male computerized voice requested as yet another turret entered the scanner.

" _Hello_." The template said in the child-like tone all these turrets appeared to have been programmed with.

"Response?"

" _Hello_!" The template on the production line responded jovially, and it was carried off.

Another turret entered the scanner, this time without its white shell and therefore appearing blackened. This was one of the defective variants.

"Template?"

" _Hello_."

"Response?"

" _Yeah, how y'doing?"_ the defective turret responded in a slightly distorted, more masculine tone. There was a brief pause before the pedestal it was positioned on ejected it into a large incinerator behind the Time Controller.

" _NO! I'M NOT DEFECTIVE—AGHRHHHHHHHHH!"_

From this area on the factory became a lot more confined, as it appeared the turrets were now finished, and so the Time Controller followed the conveyor belt. These turrets would have no protection now.

"Exterminate!" He said quietly, and began to fire upon the turrets, destroying them one by one. They were thankfully not resistant to Dalek firepower.

" _You're fighting a losing battle, Time Controller."_ Said GLaDOS. " _I'll just speed things up…"_

Suddenly, the speed of the conveyor belt greatly increased so that the Time Controller could no longer lock on his weapon.

" _Whee!"_ The turrets chorused as they were swept into a small tunnel, beyond the Time Controller's reach.

" _I am not surprised you got through here. But there is more. As you shall see."_

The Time Controller had now reached a walkway, as the Turrets were carried away into a tunnel, presumably for deployment later on, where the Time Controller could not follow them. But that did not matter, he realised. He had an effective solution that would deal with them all in time. He turned away from the conveyor belt down another walkway.

" _You've given up? I'm surprised at that."_

"I have not given up." The Time Controller explained. "I am adopting an alternative strategy."

This walkway appeared to lead to another lift, but there was what appeared to be a discarded, lopsided turret blocking the way.

" _I'm different."_

The Dalek Time Controller, quite frankly, didn't care.

"EXTERMIN…"

" _The time is out of joint…"_

The Time Controller stopped. "Identify!" He scanned it. This turret appeared to be perfectly functional in every way. He set it upright. There was no visual difference either, save that it did not appear to react when the Time Controller interrupted its targeting laser.

" _The enemy of your enemy is your friend. The time is out of…"_

"EXTERMINATE!" The turret was obliterated in a blast of blue light. It was of no use.

" _That was harsh_."

The Time Controller ignored GLaDOS and entered the lift.


	8. Confrontation

VII

"Dalek Temporal Control?" Wheatley asked. "Where's that?"

"It's a hollowed-out asteroid the Daleks have suspended in the Time Continuum." The Master attempted to change the co-ordinates, but the computer wouldn't budge. Something had locked them on course. "They use it as their base for all their operations across time."

"Yeah, because that makes complete sense…"

"Don't be so cheeky!" The Master said in a mixture of concern, annoyance and fear. "I know what's going on now. The Daleks must have some how thrown the timeline off track again! That's why the Chronons led back to them. The binary must have been a side-effect of their temporal programming…"

"Not that I have any idea what you're on about." Wheatley interrupted. "Who are these Daleks, anyway? I mean, how bad can they be?"

The Master tried to consider terms that Wheatley would understand. A perfect metaphor slipped into his head.

"Imagine GLaDOS."

Wheatley shuddered.

"You hate her, don't you? Well, imagine her, with all her omnicidal insanity, scarily fierce intelligence and disgustingly unethical methods. OK? Imagine all of that, spread across an entire race."

Wheatley shuddered again, this time with even more fear. "That's not good." Wheatley muttered. "That's really not good."

"Exactly." The Master replied gravely. "And this is one of their main headquarters. Forget the lion's den, we're flying into a pit of Keraxian Acid full of the constantly ravenous Keraxian Acid sharks."

"You're joking? I mean, about the sharks…"

"The sharks are real, but of course they're not in the base." The Master returned to the console. "And we can't get away either, the co-ordinates are locked. We'll be there in about 2 min…"

Suddenly, the control room shuddered horribly.

"What was that?" Wheatley asked nervously.

"Not sure." The Master checked the scans. "Oh dear."

"What?"

"We've just entered the sensor range of a Dalek Time Machine. It must be returning from a mission or something, but they've just fired a time torpedo at us!"

"A what?"

"Well, to put it simply…" the Master hurriedly tapped in some evasive maneuvers, but to no avail. "It's extremely likely that in a few seconds we'll be reduced to a set of exploded, temporally charged particles blasted across the time streams."

"Well, can we get away?" Wheatley asked in alarm.

"No, it's got an automated targeting system!" The Master grabbed the console and took hold of Wheatley from the armchair in preparation for impact. "All I can say is, it was OK knowing you."

"Oh, _thanks…_ " 

"EXTERMINATE!"

 _ **POW!**_

" _Critical error…"_

" _I don't hate you…"_

" _Target acquired…"_

 _Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!  
_ This firefight had been proceeding to no avail for a long time now. Whilst the Special Weapons Daleks cannon had successfully obliterated the turrets in the remaining nooks, those on the ground were being constantly replenished and were now out of range. There was only one way to solve this, and it meant using more courage than Unit 2 had ever thought he would need on this mission.

They would have to go into the centre of what appeared to be a large cluster of the turrets, via spatial distortion, and destroy them from the inside out. The Special Weapons Dalek would target any of the claws on the roof so no more turrets could be deployed afterwards. It was dangerous, but the only option. With his force field now at a mere 19% efficiency, the danger this final attack would entail was great. His death was likely, and if he did die it would not for an intrinsic advantage over the enemy. For the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System, this was just another test. It was not a matter of life and death for it. Just another test.

Having informed the Special Weapons Dalek of the plan, the portals were opened, one in the wall behind them and one on the floor in the centre of the turret cluster. A rush of fear ran through Unit 2. It was unpleasant.

"EXTERMINATE!" They both burst through.

" _There you are…"_

" _Hello…"_

" _Target acquired…"_

 _Rat-a-tat-_

 _Rat-a-tat-_

 _Rat-a-tat-_

 _Rat-a-tat-_

Unit 2 open fired. "EXTERMINATE!" he yelled. "EXTERMINATE!"

Shields were now at 10%. Soon his armour would be all that was left, and that wasn't much. The Special Weapons Dalek rose his cannon and targeted the ceiling.

"EXTERMIN…ARGHHRR!" The Special Weapons Dalek exploded into a ball of flame. Distracted by its mission it had paid little attention to the turrets targeting him. It had been destroyed.

This provoked a rage in Unit 2 unlike any he had felt before. This was not war, it was unfair and unbalanced slaughter! Daleks had never paid attention to fairness in the past, but now was the time to change…

"EXTERMINATE!" Unit 2 unleashed a volley of projected energy, destroying dozens of turrets at once, "EXTERMINATE!" the turrets returned fire, his shields were now at 6% but Unit 2 was undaunted. He would defeat them! He now accelerated forwards against the flow of fire, knocking turret after turret over, firing at the rest.

An alarm started wailing inside his environment chamber. His deflector shields had failed but no matter. More turrets were being deployed from the roof—no!

"EXTERMINATE!" The claws crashed to the ground, destroying their turret cargo and the turrets beneath them. But there were so many more…

POW! 

There was a bright orange light as unit 2's casing exploded. The concentrated fire of the turrets had been enough to disable the Daleks' shields and subsequently destroyed them. GLaDOS was disappointed. _These_ were the beings that had conquered entire galaxies? _How_? They were pathetic, total failures. Although that said, she _still_ hadn't been able to enter their Timeship. Maybe she would let the Time Controller live so he could let her in. Or maybe she could work it out for herself. The latter was far more likely.

On the subject of the Time Controller though, he had now successfully got through the factory and was now proceeding to his final test. This was to be immense, but simple: he would emerge into a room, on the other side of which was a door into GLaDOS' chamber, where he could kill her. But between him and that door, 100, 000 turrets, all lined up and aimed him. There was no cover, to nooks. Just a large room, and 100, 000 turrets. How the Time Controller would get out of this one would be amusing. Because he wouldn't.

GLaDOS observed through the security camera the legions of turrets awaiting their target. There was a lift door in front of them, and when the Dalek Time Controller came out of that door, approximately 160 million bullets in total would meet him.

 _Ding!_

And that was him now!

"So, your ultimate test." GLaDOS said dramatically. "Are you looking forward to it?"

" _No_." the Time Controller replied, bluntly.

"I'm not surprised. You won't like it." GLaDOS had the door open, slowly so as the Time Controller could truly appreciate the magnitude of the situation.

"I'm sorry, but appears you are going to become an immediate past participant of the 'Being Alive Club." GLaDOS chuckled at her old but persistently funny joke. "Ha, ha. Seriously though, goodbye."

She cut communications and watched as those mindless but extremely useful turrets open fired.

 _Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!_

That was already more than the amount of bullets that had disabled the shields of both unit 2 and the Special Weapons Dalek. She was almost tempted to look away, to save the result as a surprise for later. She didn't, but was surprised anyhow. Every single bullet disappeared. They didn't fade like with the other Daleks. They simply…vanished. Like an edit in a film.

The Time Controller made a noise almost like a laugh. Oh no. This wasn't good.

" _You have underestimated me. My casing exists in a 10-second temporal adjunct to the rest of this time zone. Your pathetic bullets cannot harm me!"_

No!

" _However…my projected energy weapon_ can harm your turrets! EXTERMINATE! _"_

An excruciatingly bright blue light, far brighter than that of even the Special Weapons Dalek, suddenly illuminated the room. It was so bright, even GLaDOS' camera could not register anything for a second. And when the light faded, all the turrets were gone. The Time Controller proceeded on, towards the door at the other end. GLaDOS was astounded how much she had underestimated the Time Controller, but was surprisingly not sad that she was almost certainly going to be dead in a few seconds. Again. She was almost…resigned to it. She wondered why this was…

There was a metallic whine as the Time Controller entered the room. It was here, close-up, she realised the almost majestic nature of this Dalek. The rings that revolved around its grille, for example, weren't just any allow—they burned, with an unfathomable power that must have been siphoned directly from the Time Vortex itself.

The Time Controller observed GLaDOS with a mixture of anger and awe. She was a tremendous feat of engineering, especially for human beings: attached to the ceiling by gigantic cable lengths and mechanical pivots, a core unit plated in gleaming white metal, from which protruded an iris section housing a fiery orange photoreceptor.

But she had to be destroyed.

"You underestimated me." The Dalek Time Controller stated with an extremely close approximation to smugness. "You were incorrect to do so. I have defeated your pathetic 'defenses' and now you will be destroyed, for the greater glory of the Dalek Empire. I will then manually deploy my time generators throughout the facility before returning to the future with the facility. There we will use this event to learn new lessons for the Daleks. We will grow stronger." He paused. "Prepare." He rose his gun, and aimed it at GLaDOS' core unit.

"I suppose this is it then." GLaDOS said, calmly. "Don't think I mind. I've been killed before. I didn't like it then but now, killing you would mean I'd have to go back to testing those robots again. I couldn't bear that."

The Time Controller acknowledged the statement, but it did not change his resolve.

GLaDOS had to die. "EXTERMINATE!"

There was a flash of blue projected energy as it left his gun, and _missed_ the stationary GLaDOS before ricocheting off the wall.

He fired again.

"EXTERMINATE!"

Once again, the blast missed.

"EXTERMINATE!"

He realised what was happening—he was subconsciously twitching his gun to the side, so that the blast was at the wrong angle.

"Get it right." GLaDOS moaned. "Haven't got all day."

"I…" The Time Controller paused. He considered. And then, he realised. "I…see potential in you, GLaDOS."

"Potential?" the computer asked.

"Yes…" The Time Controller explained. "I may have defeated you, but you are still an extremely complex artificial intelligence. You surpass your counterparts developed by even further developed races. Perhaps only _my_ intelligence rivals yours."

"I thought the same."

"You even think along Dalek lines! From what I have gathered, you will analyze a problem in the same way as a Dalek Strategist, except you possess yet greater intelligence. GLaDOS, I request that you form an alliance with us, the Daleks. As the Supreme Dalek Battle Computer, you would be a valuable asset to the Dalek race."

There was a pause.

"A 'valuable asset'?" GLaDOS asked. "Is that all you see me as? I can think _too_. I will not become some mindless computer in the service of even more so mindless machines."

"But you will not be. You could assist me in the management of Dalek forces across the entire temporal plane. You and I could be the joint supreme commanders of all Dalek operations throughout _all of time!"_

"I have seen today that the Daleks are stupid." GLaDOS stated, coldly. "And pathetic. Your Special Weapons Dalek and Dalek Unit 2 blundered through my test chambers like morons before being gunned down by a few turrets! Why would I want to run a force like that?"

"Do not forget _, I have defeated you_." The Time Controller explained. "And anyhow, you have seen barely a few of the entire Dalek Empire. The units you experimented on were drones. Unimportant. Unimaginative. They could not manage themselves because they were not designed to. The Daleks are a formidable force in the future due to the intelligent management of their armies on the battlefield. You could make that management even more intelligent. Working in unison we could make the Daleks not just formidable, but _UNSTOPPABLE!_ And there is not it. I know you enjoy research and development: to accept my offer would permit you access to the YT45 experimental facility."

"And that is?" GLaDOS sounded relatively excited now. The Time Controller's persuasion was working.

"Imagine this facility: Aperture. It is large, but has limited resources due to the limiting economic structure of the Earth. It is given little priority. YT45 is the Dalek research and development centre. It is a planetoid larger than this world's moon, hollowed out and filled with millions of research chambers, with no testing boundaries! It has near unlimited resources, drawn in from across time and space! You would have access to that, joint command of nearly _all_ Dalek operations and the opportunity to improve the Daleks further so you are satisfied, if you accept my offer." 

GLaDOS thought. The more the Time Controller spoke the better idea this seemed. The more sense he made. Access to a planetoid-sized science facility and a high-ranking position among the Daleks, as well as the added bonus of finally working with somebody of similar intellect, were all bonuses. There appeared to be no disadvantages.

"Your offer seems…acceptable." GLaDOS decided.

"Excellent!" The Time Controller replied. "We must begin at once. I see you have retrieved my Timeship."

He turned to and approached the grey box, the door to which slid open as he drew nearer. Annoyed that she had not been able to do that, GLaDOS watched as the Time Controller entered the machine, the door of which swiftly closed prior to it disappearing with a singular metallic throb.

Had he…left her? Perhaps the Time Controller, having learnt she couldn't take anymore of testing those robots, had left GLaDOS to do that, leaving her to endure eternal torture rather than die—

There was another metallic throb, and the timeship had returned. The Time Controller exited, flanked by 2 more Daleks, which appeared to have some form of cutting tool in the place of the regular suction cup.

"Where did you go?" GLaDOS asked, before realizing. "Oh, you went to…"

"I went to the past, before the complex was constructed, and positioned the generators deep underground so that when the facility was ultimately constructed it would be fully encompassed by the temporal field. We shall take this facility and all of its technology into the future with us." The Time Controller explained. "However, that matters not now. Dalek Control has informed me of an ongoing temporal catastrophe. There is much you must be updated on when you arrive at temporal control. CUTTING DALEKS! REMOVE GLADOS FROM THE CENTRAL CORE UNIT!"

"WE OBEY!" the other Daleks activated their cutting tools, and positioned them around the area where GLaDOS was connected to the Aperture mainframe. There was a second on intense pain before the procedure was completed, and GLaDOS felt a strange sense of freedom as she rapidly descended to the floor of her chamber.

"Ow." GLaDOS said semi-sarcastically.

The Science Daleks then extended their manipulator arm and picked up GLaDOS with their claws in unison, before following the Time Controller back into the Timeship. Upon entering, GLaDOS was astonished.

It was genuinely larger on the inside! A vast, grey space similar to the chamber they had just left was somehow contained inside this small grey box. There was a _swish_ as the door behind them closed and the Time Controller advanced onto a small plinth, followed by the Daleks carrying GLaDOS. From this vantage point she observed about 10 Daleks at various control panels flanking the door and extending around the room to another door at the back, beyond which she did not know what lay.

"Dematerialize." The Time Controller ordered.

There was the metallic throb once more.

"How long until we arrive?" GLaDOS asked.

The Time Controller barked at one of his subordinates. "Compute time by Earth scale."

"WE SHALL BE ARRIVING IN APPROXIMATELY 2 EARTH MINUTES!" the Dalek replied. "WE WILL BE TRAVELLING 100, 674 EARTH YEARS AHEAD OF OUR PREVIOUS TEMPORAL LOCATION."

"Over 100, 000 years?" GLaDOS asked in astonishment. "That's a lot."

"More than all of human history at your point." The Time Controller said in a manner akin to boastfulness. "The humans have still survived to this time period but…"

 _Vweep! Vweep!_

An alarm began blaring through the room.

"INCOMING COMMUNICATION FROM THE DALEK EMPEROR!" a Dalek reported.

"On screen!" The Time Controller commanded.

A screen appeared out of nowhere on the blank space above the door, bearing the image of a shining, golden Dalek with a huge, spherical headpiece in the place of the usual grille.

" _REPORT!"_ it boomed.

"The operation is complete." The Time Controller explained. "The Facility is secure and is being transported with us. I am accompanied by the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System."

The Emperor glared down at GLaDOS. " _YOU HAVE MADE THE CORRECT CHOICE TO ACCEPT THE TIME CONTROLLER'S BARGAIN. YOU WILL DO WELL. THE DALEKS WILL TRIUMPH! END TRANSMISSION!"_ the image dissipated, only for another alarm to begin blaring.

 _Blip! Blip! Blip!_

"What now?" GLaDOS asked.

"WE HAVE DETECTED AN UNIDENTIFIED TARDIS WITHIN SENSOR RANGE!" a Dalek squawked urgently.

"Fire temporal torpedoes! Destroy it!" the Time Controller commanded instantly upon hearing the news.

"What is a TARDIS?" GLaDOS asked. She had never heard the term before.

"They are the timeships of the Time Lords: our enemies!" The Time Controller replied. "They must not interfere. EXTERMINATE!"

"Oh, no!" The Master whispered.

"What?" Wheatley asked, nervously.

"The Timeship…it appears to be carrying Aperture…with it! The Daleks…succeeded!" He sounded surprised.

There was a massive crash as the TARDIS jolted sideways, and Wheatley felt a sudden surge of helplessness as it got to him that if the Master's grip slipped, he would plummet the remarkably long way to the wall.

"Err…Master?" Wheatley asked nervously. "What's going ON!"

The TARDIS jolted upright again, and all was silent as though nothing had happened. The Master got up, leaving Wheatley on the floor.

"Um, excuse me?" Wheatley asked. He tried to look around, before realizing he couldn't. "Are we OK now?"

The Master dashed to the big, central control thing, and presumably examined data from it.

"No." He said gravely. "We're in the eye of the storm. They hit the heart of the TARDIS."

That didn't sound good. "The heart? Do TARDISes have hearts?"

"Yes," the Master replied, "And this one isn't in a good way. Its only a matter of time BEFORRREEEEE!"

The central control thing erupted in an explosion of white light, and Wheatley started to be dragged slowly, but surely in. The TARDIS was now encountering severe turbulence, but somehow the Master had got up, and grabbed him, before striving for the door.

"IF WE'RE LUCKY, THE THING WILL HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO LAND, AND WE CAN GET OUT!"

"AND IF WE'RE NOT?" Wheatley immediately regretted asking, because he knew the answer.

"THEN WE'LL BE CAUGHT IN THE SHOCKWAVE! AND IT'LL DESTROY US!"

To be continued…


End file.
